Pomona High football is at practice, on Monday.
Frank Perez—Correspondent

POMONA >> Manny Lua stood on a sideline at Covina District Stadium as Pomona High School squared off against Northview. He was injured in the first half, sustaining a broken collarbone so severe that a bone was nearly protruding through the skin. Pomona coach Aaron Jamieson tried to convince his junior quarterback to go to the hospital, but to no avail.

Lua eventually watched the Red Devils secure a 17-9 victory, then he went to the hospital. He wanted to be there to help his successor — sophomore Darreon Lockett.

It is that kind of bond and teamwork that has propelled the Red Devils to a No. 5 ranking in the CIF Southern Section’s Mid-Valley Division.

“I had to be there for my teammates,” Lua said. “I may not have been able to play but I wanted to be able to help him out the best I could,”

The Red Devils seem to have arrived overnight. They were just 3-7 a year ago in Jamieson’s first year as head coach with a sophomore-heavy roster. But they’ll take a 9-0 record into Friday’s game against No. 6 San Dimas (5-4, 5-0) in which the Valle Vista League title will be at stake.

It would be the first league title for Pomona since back-to-back titles in 2002 and 2003.

Jamieson, who served as an assistant for two years before getting the head job at the age of 27, has never focused on wins or losses. He has been insistent that the proper foundation be built for the future. If those steps are taken, he said success will be the end result.

“I wanted them to understand what they have to do in the offseason. It all starts there,“ he said, “It takes commitment from everyone on the field and in the classroom and they all had to be willing to put in the work together.”

The players present a united front. Most have been friends since long before they stepped on the Bangor Street campus because they played together in the youth league founded by rapper Snoop Lion.

The bond has carried beyond the playing field. Players frequently gather for video game tournaments. There have also been team paintball outings.

Jamieson also insists the players stay on track in the classroom. He has a study hall three times a week after school, with practice to follow. He keeps a color-coded progress report detailing his players’ academic standing that is updated each week.

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He said he knew his team started buying into his game plan when a player came to him more excited about the team’s improved cumulative grade-point average than the win the previous week.

“That really told me a lot,” he said. “That was an indication that everything I had been preaching was sinking in.”

The players had something to get excited about even before the first game with the installation of a brand new artificial turf field.

“It meant a lot to us that somebody would do that for us,” said Cesar Nunez, one of just five seniors on the squad. “We wanted to show we deserved that and one way we could give back was to win games.”

Leading the way are a handful of players who excel on offense and defense — Nunez, junior wide receiver-defensive back Desmond Bobo, senior lineman Victor Valdez, junior receiver-defensive back Shawn Wilson, junior lineman Alex Arroyas and junior receiver-defensive back Kheenyon Woods.

The Red Devils have faced few challenges. The game against Northview in which Lua was injured was about the only close call Pomona has won its nine games by an average of 32 points. Granted it hasn’t played the most difficult slate of foes but it has responded any time adversity has surfaced.

Lua’s injury was a prime example.

Then there was the suspension of 15 players for a game against Baldwin Park two weeks ago that was the result of a scuffle the previous week at the end of the first half against Hacienda Heights Wilson. A few of those were starters on both offense and defense, making their absence even more costly. But the Red Devils didn’t just win, they won big — 61-21.

All say Jamieson has been the catalyst.

“He makes us want to be better players and better people,” said Wilson, who is second in the Inland Valley in receiving. “Because he’s younger he can relate to us. We’re happy with what we have done but we want to keep it going. We haven’t accomplished anything yet.”